A number of studies have documented that autism has a neurobiological basis, but the anatomical extent of these
neurobiological abnormalities is largely unknown. In this study, we aimed at analyzing highly localized shape
abnormalities of the corpus callosum in a homogeneous group of autism children. Thirty patients with essential autism
and twenty-four controls participated in this study. 2D contours of the corpus callosum were extracted from MR images
by a semiautomatic segmentation method, and the 3D model was constructed by stacking the contours. The resulting 3D
model had two openings at the ends, thus a new conformal parameterization for high genus surfaces was applied in our
shape analysis work, which mapped each surface onto a planar domain. Surface matching among different individual
meshes was achieved by re-triangulating each mesh according to a template surface. Statistical shape analysis was used
to compare the 3D shapes point by point between patients with autism and their controls. The results revealed significant
abnormalities in the anterior most and anterior body in essential autism group.